Retreat: A Single Cell

Retreat (n.): a going back or backward; withdrawal in the face of opposition or from a dangerous or unpleasant situation; a safe quiet or secluded place; a period of retirement or seclusion for spiritual renewal. Bingo! That last definition from Webster’s works.

A few months ago, I spent five blissful days in a yoga and meditation retreat. My time there got me thinking about the definition of “retreat.” Either a noun or a verb, there are obviously many different ways to view this term. In war, to retreat on the battlefield is a shameful thing—it signifies a loss of territory and giving up, at least for the time being. In life, what does it mean when we go on retreat?

I have to admit, I’ve never met a retreat I didn’t love. Even when I was the planner, presenter, and funder of retreats for the college students I advised—and the effort and cost sometimes seemed more than it was worth—once we got there, I always had a great time. In what other context can you get twenty college students to play games uproariously for hours on a Saturday night, without an alcoholic beverage in sight?

There is something about being away from our normal routine, in a beautiful setting that can bring out the best in us. With or without a carefully planned agenda, the experience can seem almost magical. Whether the people you are with are friends, colleagues or total strangers, the retreat setting lends itself to great ideas, sharing and opening up to those around you. It can bring out the best in people.

In the past fourteen months, I have been on four retreats: the first was for cancer survivors and caregivers at a beautiful facility in Tucson; the second for work in a rustic log cabin in the snowy mountains of Colorado; the third, called Courage and Heart, about taking the risk to do something different in life, set on the beautiful California Coast in Big Sur; and finally, the yoga retreat at a Zen mountain center north of Fort Collins, Colorado.

My time at each of the retreats was wonderful, centering, relaxing, memorable, and enlightening in some way—the work one maybe not quite as much as the others—but it had its moments, too. I always think, when I’m in the thick of the retreat, that I will carry that feeling with me back into the daily grind, that I will stay in touch with all the great people I met, and that the experience will have changed me in some significant way.